Perception
by TimeLadyMystery
Summary: When Delilah Pierce came to Leadworth she never imagined that a man would fall out of the sky, promise her adventure and then disappear for 12 years. But that's exactly what happened. [First in The Mysteries series.]
1. Prologue

**\- Prologue -**

* * *

On the war grounds of Gallifrey, on what would become the final night of the never-ending battle, one lonesome Time Lord was making a decision that would shape the rest of their lives with a torturous blade. A decision they would never truly forgive themselves for but had to make for the safety of the universe.

On that same planet, a week before The Moment would be activated a Time Lady stood in front of the High Council of Gallifrey, outraged at the ultimatum given to her.

 _"The Time Lords will rise to a form of higher being, of consciousness alone. You will join us, Lady Mystery, or you will die."_

She was in no position to argue that this was wrong, but it didn't stop her from cursing, yelling, and refusing to answer how they wanted. She was infamous, a renegade that spent as little time on Gallifrey as she possibly could and they thought she would join them willingly? She had never enjoyed the company of her own species - with few exceptions - preferring to send her time observing other planets, helping keep things in line from the shadows. She had made quite a name for herself in the universe, but never stayed long enough for anyone to find out who she truly was.

That's why she chose The Mystery as her title after all.

* * *

Leadworth. An ordinary village, filled with ordinary people, living ordinary lives. Leadworth is not well known by the people outside of it, the people who don't live within the 30 minute by car radius of the inexplicably human village would have no idea as to what it's like there, or even where it is on a map.

Which was why it was the perfect place to hide.

Elders living in the village will insist that the lonesome house in the farm fields on the outskirts of the human village popped up out of no where. But those younger, with more authority over right and wrong, will bypass this ridiculous notion almost immediately, every time it's brought up. Since there is no plausible way that that could be true. For the reason that Leadworth was ordinary, and everything else within its confines must be ordinary too.

It would seem that nobody lived within the house on the hill for quite some time, no one came out or ever went in, for several months, only ever passing by as if not noticing it at all. That was, of course, until Delilah Pierce started school.

No one even batted an eyelid when a young girl, only looking five years old, turned up on the first day of school with no parents by her side to see her off. No one questioned whether she had walked the lengthy and non-paved path to school by herself, and no one wondered why she left alone either. This girl, this lonely girl, lived in that lonesome house on the hill, and no one ever knew. That was of course, until Amelia Pond noticed her.

Perception. The awareness children hold over the world around them is unmatched; children are always noticing, always questioning, because everything around them is new and exciting. It just so happened that Amelia Pond slept right next to a crack in the fabric of the universe, and Delilah wanted to be seen.

Delilah was introduced to other friends, namely Rory Williams, who was shocked to see her when he finally noticed, and Mels, who simply smiled like one would to an old friend. So old a smile on such a young face - something she and Delilah shared. The group of 4 children would soon become close, a tight-nit family. They would split into pairs for brief moments in time, but in the end they would always end up back together again.

* * *

AN; Please R&R!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: A Blue Box**

* * *

Two young girls, a red head and a brunette, knelt side-by-side at the end of the red-head's bed, both had their eyes closed and hands clasped before them in prayer.

"Dear Santa, thank you for for the Dolls, and the pencils and the fish." Amelia Pond, the red-head with a Scottish accent began their prayer.

"Also, thank you for the glitter gel pens and pencil case." Her best friend, Delilah Pierce, continued; her brown hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, her black rimmed glasses perched on her nose. "It's Easter now, so we hope we didn't wake you, but honest, it's an emergency."

"There's a crack in my wall." Both girls took a moment to look at the crack, and then to each other. "Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but we know it's not, because there's voices, so please, please could you send someone to fix it?"

"Maybe a policeman! Or a-" Delilah was cut off by a sudden sound outside in the garden, a crash.

Both girls raced to the window to see what had happened - Amelia stopping to grab a torch on her bedside. In the garden outside they could see a large blue box that had crashed into the shed and destroyed it. Most notably though, the blue box bore the words "Police Public Call Box". Wide grins spread across Amelia and Delilah's faces.

"Thank you, Santa." Both girls murmured in unison, turning to grab their coats and shoes before running down the stairs and out the front door. Amelia raced straight into the garden whilst Delilah hesitated in the doorway for just a moment longer.

"Be careful, Amelia." Delilah whispered, even though the girl in question was too far away to have heard it. Delilah slowly made her way over to the red-head, slightly more cautious of the steaming blue box as the doors swung open and a grappling hook was thrown out landing just beside where Amelia was standing. Delilah creeped slightly closer - her caution being overruled by her curiousness.

Delilah gasped in surprise when a man popped his head outside of the box.

"Could I have an Apple? All I can think about. Apples. I love apples! Maybe I'm having a craving? That's new - never had cravings before." He said. Soaking wet and panting, he began to climb his way out of the blue box - the soft glow of the box illuminating his face as he stared down into it. "Whoa. Look at that." He muttered to himself.

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked, staring at the man like he was crazy - which maybe he was.

"Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library - hell of a climb back up."

"But you're soaking wet?" Delilah broke her silence with a question.

"I was in the swimming pool."

"You said you were in the library." Amelia countered.

"So was the swimming pool."

"You have a swimming pool in your library?" Delilah wondered.

"Of course I do! Where else would it be?" The man looked on incredulously - as if it were obvious that the swimming pool would be in the library.

"Are you a policeman?" Amelia asked, getting the conversation back on track.

"Why? Did you call a policeman?"

"Are you here about the crack in my wall?"

"What crack? Argh!" The strange man cried out falling down to the ground in front of the girls feet

"Are you alright, mister?" Delilah asked, both girls now staring down at the man as he got back up, on to his knees.

"No, I'm fine. It's okay. This is all completely norm-" He convulsed again, but this time some golden mist came out of his mouth. Delilah's eyes widened and she leaned foreword slightly, Amelia was seemingly uninterested.

"Who... are you?" Delilah breathed out, in wonder.

"I don't know yet. I'm still cooking." The man smiled at Delilah, before looking to the ginger beside her "Does it scare you?"

"No - it's just a bit weird."

"No, no, no. The crack in your wall, does it scare you?" He corrected.

"Yes." Both girls said in unison.

"Well then, no time to lose. I'm the Doctor. Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off." The Doctor walked straight into a tree. Causing both girls to let out a silent laugh.

"Are you okay?" Delilah repeated her earlier question, after sobering from the laughter.

"Early days - steering's a bit off."

The Doctor quickly made his way towards the house, without walking into anything else and Amelia began to follow, but she was held back for a moment by Delilah's hand on her arm.

"Amelia are you sure we should let this stranger into your house?"

The girl in question shrugged "He seems harmless really - he can hardly walk properly." Amelia rolled her eyes at the hesitation and worry still present on her best friends face. "Stop being such a scaredy cat and come on!" Amelia grabbed Delilah's hand and dragged he along, not seeing the slight glare Delilah was directing at her for the insult.

* * *

"If you're a doctor, why does your box say Police?" Amelia said, after handing the Doctor an apple. Delilah sat cross legged on top if the dining table - watching the Doctor take a bite of the apple, only to spit it out a moment later.

"That's disgusting. What is that?" He cried in an outraged tone. Delilah frowned.

"It's an apple." She replied, the Doctor looked up and walked over to stand in front of her.

"Apple's are rubbish. I hate apples." He said squinting at the girl

"You said you loved them." Delilah furrowed her brows.

"No, no, no. I like yoghurt. Yoghurt's my favourite. Give me yoghurt." Delilah shuffled off her perch and walked to the fridge, grabbing a raspberry yogurt and handing it to the Doctor, only for him to be disgusted by that as well.

This process went on for a little while, each girl taking turns to try a different food; they tried Bacon, Beans - which Delilah was disgusted by, hating the things herself. They had tried a simple dish of bread and butter, which the Doctor ended up throwing out of the front door yelling,

"And stay out!"

But nothing seemed to be working for the Doctors 'new mouth'. A concept which still confused Delilah greatly.

"We've got carrots?" Amelia tried, hopelessly.

"Carrots? Are you insane?" The Doctor replied, "No! I know what I need... I need... I need - fish fingers... and custard." He held them both up for the girls to see, the two of them looking slightly disgusted at the odd combination, but said nothing as the Doctor began to prepare his strange meal.

"So! Are you two sisters?" He asked pouring the custard into a bowl to put in the microwave.

"No, we might as well be though." Amelia said from beside Delilah, as they both leant on the dining table.

"Ooo having a sleepover then? That's exciting - I've never had a sleep over before." The Doctor said distractedly, being to focused on his meal prep.

"Yup, every Saturday, it's a tradition." Delilah said smiling at her friend beside her.

No more words were spoken between the trio, the two girls watching bewildered as the Doctor flounced about the kitchen. When he'd finished cooking Amelia grabbed some ice cream from the freezer and two spoons, sitting opposite the strange man with the strange eating habits. Both girls giggled when the Doctor came away from drinking the custard with a liquid moustache.

"Funny." Amelia commented, the Doctor smiled.

"Am I? Good, funny's good." He replied "what's your name?"

"Amelia Pond."

"Delilah Pierce."

"Oh, those are brilliant names, Amelia Pond and Delilah Pierce - like names out of a fairytale." He complimented, making both girls smile at the approval. "Are we in Scotland?" He asked

"No, Had to move to England, it's rubbish." Amelia moaned,

"Hey! I'm English." Delilah protested and Amelia rolled her eyes

"Not you, stupid." Delilah frowned at the insult, but knew it was Amelia's way of showing that she cared.

"So, what about Mum and Dad then? Are they upstairs? Thought we would have woken them by now." The Doctor carried on taking no notice of the two girls side conversation.

"I don't have a Mum and Dad. Just an aunt." Amelia said, growing slightly sad. Delilah smiled sadly at her in comfort.

"I don't even have an aunt." The Doctor commented, shrugging.

"You're lucky." Amelia said.

"I know, What about you Delilah?" Delilah looked up at the strange man, slightly startled out of her thought, not expecting to be addressed.

"Mums at home, probably sleeping."

The Doctor looked like he wanted to ask more, but all three were suddenly distracted by something and the Doctor turned back to Amelia instead.

"Where is your aunt?"

"She's out." She said simply, both girls knowing it was a regular occurrence for the estranged relative.

"And she left you all alone?" The Doctor asked, surprised

"We're not scared!" Delilah insisted, Amelia nodding with her

"Course, your not! You two aren't scared of anything!" Delilah felt slightly proud of herself that her initial fear hadn't shown through, "Box falls out of sky, man falls out of box, man eats fish custard, and look at you both, jut sitting there." Both girls smiled at the praise. "So do you know what I think?" He asked, a more serious tone to his voice.

"What?" They asked, timid

"Must be a hell of a scared crack in your wall."

* * *

The two girls stood one on either side of the Doctor, gathered in Amelia's bedroom staring at the 4 foot long, w-shaped crack in her light blue wall.

"You've has some cowboys in here," The Doctor observed "Not actual cowboys, though that can happen."

Amelia, however, wasn't listening and instead looking down at an Apple in her hand, Delilah looked around the Doctors leg to see the smiley face carved into it and smiled. "I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them." She handed it to the Doctor.

"She sounds good, your mum. I'll keep it for later." He put it in his pocket, an action that Delilah thought was a bit strange considering the fact he had made his hate for apples known quite loudly downstairs.

"This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's my question," he continued "Where's the draught coming from?"

Delilah watched on in interest as he brought out a blue light up tube thing and waved it around the crack.

"What's that?" She asked in interest and the Doctor looked down and smiled at the inquisitive look on her face

"It's a sonic screwdriver." He answered, and Delilah's brow furrowed, not knowing what one was, but nodded anyway. The Doctor went back to scanning the crack.

"Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey," He muttered to himself before turning back to the girls. "You know what this crack is?"

"What?" Amelia asked

"It's a crack." Delilah resisted the urge to roll her eyes "but I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn't in the wall."

"Where is it then?" Delilah questioned

"Everywhere. In everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the wall of your bedroom." Delilah and Amelia were a bit lost, not understanding what the Doctor was going on about. "Sometimes, can you hear-?"

"A voice? Yes." Amelia cut him off, and Delilah shivered thinking of the voice that haunted their nightmares.

The Doctor grabbed a glass off of Amelia's bedside table and threw the contents across the hallway, using the now empty glass to listen through the crack.

" _Prisoner Zero has escaped."_

"Prisoner Zero?" The Doctor wondered

"Prisoner Zero has escaped." Repeated Amelia, "That's what we heard, what does it mean?"

"It means that on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner. And you know what that means?"

"What?"

The Doctor moved Amelia's dresser out of the way "You need a better wall. The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut, or…" the Doctor trailed off.

"What?" Delilah asked cautiously, the Doctor knelt down and looked between the two girls.

"You know when grown ups tell you everything's gonna be fine and you think their probably lying to make you feel better?"

"Yes." Both girls replied.

"Everything's going to be fine." He said before standing and taking Amelia's hand, realising he needed his other hand the use the sonic, he pushed Delilah behind him, she looked up at him, her fear becoming more noticeable, and balled up some of his ragged shirt in her fist, peaking around him.

The bedroom was flooded with a bright light when the crack opened, Amelia and Delilah watched with curious faces.

The voice the three had heard was much louder this time, repeating its mantra. Delilah jumped back and gasped when a giant blue eye filled the crack, looking between the three of them. The Doctor attempted to communicate with it but it sent a bolt of light into the Doctor and he doubled over in pain. Then the crack closed once more.

"There, you see? Told you it would close, good as new!"

"What was that thing?" Delilah questioned,

"Was that prisoner Zero?" Amelia added

"No, I think that was prisoner zeros guard. Whatever it was, it sent a message. Psychic paper. Takes a lovely little message." Delilah looked over his shoulder to read the same message it had been blasting the whole time

' _Prisoner Zero has escaped'_

"But why tell us? Unless…"

"Unless what?" Amelia pushed him on

"Unless prisoner zero escaped through here. But he couldn't have. We'd know." He walked out into the hallway, the girls following. "It's difficult, brand new me. Nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing. In the corner of my eye…" the Doctor turned around slowly, stopping when an alarm sounded outside in the garden, all three turned to the window.

The Doctor's eyes widened, "No, no no no no no no no! Not now!" He raced down the stairs and out into the garden, both girls struggling to keep up with his speed.

"I've got to get back in there, the engines are phasing. It's going to burn!"

"But it's just a box! How can a box have engines?"

"It's not a box. It's a time It's a time machine."

"A time machine?" Delilah clarified, the Doctor nodded. "A real one? You've got a real time machine?"

"Not for much longer if I can't get her stabilised. Five minute hop into the future should do it."

"Can we come?" Amelia asked, Delilah looked at her surprised, but thankful to be included.

"Not safe yet, five minutes. Give me five minutes, I'll be right back."

"People always say that." Delilah said sadly, taking Amelia's hand.

"Am I people?" The Doctor questioned, clambering down from the box he had climbed back up onto, "Do I even look like people? Trust me, I'm the Doctor."

He climbed back up onto the box, the two girls smiling up at him, excited for the five minutes to go by.

"Geronimo!" He yells, falling into the box with a splash, the box began to disappear and the the girls looked at each other and giggled running back into the house to pack a bag.

Neither of them noticed that the door at the end of the hall had opened when they raced past it, wide smiles on both their faces as they put their coats on and grabbed their suitcases. Delilah's already packed for her sleepover.

When they made it back it to the garden to wait for the Doctors return, they sat down on their suitcases, next to each other and looked up to the sky in excited silence.

"Where do you think we'll go?" Delilah asked, with anticipation

"I don't know, it's a time machine! We could go see some dinosaurs!" Amelia replied, her tone matching the brunettes

"Or those french people with the funny dresses!" The girls fell into giggles and then into silence once more.

5 minutes was a lot longer than either of them thought, and soon the two girls were falling asleep, leaning against each other.

They'd be waiting for the raggedy Doctor's return for much longer than 5 minutes.

* * *

 **AN; First Chapter complete! Please rate and review, would love to hear your feedback!**


End file.
